Line marker



June 20,1944. R. STAHL 2,351;719

LINE MARKER Filed Feb. 12, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I] M M I i0 3 l! 4.

IN VENTOR A TTORNEK'i June 2 0, 1944. i

R. STAHL LINE MARKER Filed Feb. 12, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 11V VEN TOR ZR 3% r Patented June 20, 1944 LINE MARKER Rodolphe Stahl, Detroit,Mich., assignor to Saylor-Beall Manufacturing 00., Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Michigan Application February 12, 1940, Serial No.318,495

7 Claims.

lhe present invention relates to painting machinery, and in particularis directed to the provision of an improved machine for painting stripesor lines, such as traffic lines on highways, in factories, parking lots,air ports, rail terminals, and the like.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide a machineof the above generally indicated character which is extremely light inweight, inexpensive to build and to use, and which road surface, theconcave surfaces of the shield machine even under windy conditions; toprovide such a machine wherein the paint shields and spray gun are sopositioned relative to the container as to be within the vision of anoperator of the machine, so as to facilitate the following of guidelines; and to in general improve the construction and arrangement ofmachines of the above generally indicated character.

With the above as well as other objects in view which appear in thefollowing description Moreover, its

is simple and reliable in operation; to provide and in the appendedclaims, apreferred but illussuch a machine wherein a single container ortrative embodiment of the invention is shown in tank affords storageboth for the material or the accomp y drawings, throughout e Sevpaintand for the compressed fluid, such as air, eral views of whichcorresponding reference charfor forcing the material from the containerto actors are used to designate Corresponding p the nozzle and foroperating a pressure operated a i Which: spray nozzle; to provide such amachine wherein Figure 1 i a View n p p of a preferred the justmentioned single container constitutes embodiment o t e in o the chassisof the machine; to provide such a Fig. 2 is a detailed View, taken alongt e i e machine wherein the just mentioned container of also provides amounting for an engine driven Fig. 3 is a detailed View, taken along theline compressor unit, the compressed air output 3- of whereof isdelivered directly to the tank and to 4 is a View in d elevation of thestructure spray gun associated with the machine; to proshown in Fig. 1;and vide such a machine in which the spray gun is- 5 is a w in Section,ta en along the line adjustably supported directly by the above menof Vtioned container, in such relation that it may be t wi be app t d m a pte und radjusted both vertically and transversely relative Standing ofthe present invention, that the thereto; to provide such a machineembodying proved machine of the invent on ay be ut ed paint shieldspositioned at the respectively oppofor an exceedingly Wide Variety of pp es. site sides of the spray gun, and which serve to der ti uses for emachine f th pr nt fine the edges of the paint line produced by theinvention are for the marking of center lines or spray gun; to providesuch a machine wherein the other traiiio lines on w y Safety Zones,cross paint shields are adjustably carried by the above- Walks, par i ls, traffic lines in p Tail mentioned container in such relation thatthey terminals, d Warehouses, factories, garages, may be elevated to aninactive position, and lowp y r n n the l Th pr en m chine ered to anactive position in which they engage is part cula y ui d for e above ppt o the road surface; to provide such a machine in view of the fact thatits simplicity of construcwherein the paint shields are independentlymovtion enables it to be manufactured and sold at a able relative to thecontainer so as to enable o relatively low price. nd i c p c ty is u has to the shields to individually follow irregularities enable thepainting of substantial areas without in the road surface, thus enablingthe painting of the necessity of refill operations. exceedingly evenlines even on rough surfaces; to small size and igh We enable it to bereadily provide such a machine in which the paint shields operated by aSingle operator, and the o t ucare curved in a plane generally parallelto thetion and arrange e t of the pa n e a d paint shield enable thepainting of extremely being presented toward each other, whereby theaccurate d p y d ed tra c lines. width of the line is determined by themaximum R in to h w n the p ma hine spacing between the shield surfaces,and any consists essentially of a tank or container Ill drippage fromthe shields upon the road surface is held within the boundaries of theline being painted; to provide such a machine embodying a removable windguard structure which may be positioned over the spray nozzle and paintshields,

so as to enable satisfactory operation of the which serves, as describedbelow, both as a storage chamber for th paint or other material to besprayed and for the compressed fluid, such as air, which is utilized fordelivering the paint from the tank and for operating the spray gun. Thecontainer l0 serves as a mounting for an engine driven compressor unitillustrated as comprising a small gasoline engine 12 and a reciprocatingtype compressor it, and also affords a mounting for the hereinafterdescribed paint shield assembly l6 and the spray gun [8.

The container or tank IE) may, of course, be of any form or shapedesired, but the illustrated cylindrical shape is preferred since itafiords maximum storage capacity per unit weight of the tank, and sinceit also affords maximum rigidity or strength. An important feature ofthe present construction resides in utilizing the container in as thechassis of the machine, thus dispensing with the otherwise existingnecessity of providing a frame structure and correspondingly reducingthe overall weight of the machine.

Since the tank i9 is utilized as the chassis, the mountings for the rearwheels and the front wheels 22 are secured directly to the container H],in the relation shown in greater detail in Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to Fig. 2, each rear wheel 2%; is mounted in a yoke 2 which isprovided with a swivel connection to a tubular member 25, which isrigidly secured to, and extends outwardly from, the side wall of thecontainer It. A pin 28 is preferably carried by the support in suchrelation that it can be moved into locking engagement with a bracket 30carried by the yoke 2-1, so as to lock the associated Wheel in straightahead position. This is for the reason that except in instances Whererelatively sharp curves are being painted, it is preferred to secure allWheels of the machine in the straight ahead position.

The front wheels 22 are preferably mounted upon a common axle 32, therespectively opposite end portions of which are secured to a bracket 34,by means of studs such'as 36. The bracket 34 is rigidly secured, as bywelding, to the underside of the container ii A spring 38 is interposedbetween each end of the axle and the associated bracket 34, so as toenable the front wheels 22 to individually follow irregularities in theroad surface.

The provision of the individually sprung front wheel enables the machineto follow irregularities in the road surface, without producing a'waviness in the line being painted,'in much the manner of a three-wheelunit. However, the four-wheel arrangement gives greater stability than acorresponding three-wheel arrangement. If desired, of course, springsmay be interposed in the rear wheels and the mountings therefor, but itis preferred to omit such springs so as to further improve the stabilityof the machine and overcome any tendency to produce a Wavy line.

The driving engine E2 and compressor M, both whereof may be ofconventional construction, are mounted upon a supporting bed plate 40,which, in turn, is directly secured to the top surface of the containerill. The bed plate 40 also serves as a mounting for a fuel tank 42associated with the engine it, and for a small container M, which may beutilized to store paint thinner or other fluid utilized in cleaning thepaint lines and the spray gun H3. The delivery line 66 of the compressor14 is connected into a header 48, having a pressure gauge 5E! associatedtherewith, and which header also is provided with a direct connection 52leading into the container l2 and with an additional connection asleading to the spray gun l8. Preferably, also, a relief valve 55 isinterposed in'the header @8. It

will be understood that the line 52 opens into the tank if! at a pointabove the level of the paint therein. With the foregoing arrangement,the air pressure within the tank acts to deliver the paint therefromthrough the hereinafter identified line, and also acts to supply airthrough the line 54 to the gun I8.

In the broader aspects of the invention, various different spray gunconstructions may be used, but it is preferred that the gun 18 beconstructed as disclosed and claimed in applicants copending applicationSerial No. 119,563, filed January 8, 1937, and assigned to the sameassignee as the present application. For the purposes of the presentdescription, the characteristic feature of such guns is that they areprovided with a material nozzle, from which material may be dischargedunder the pressure existing within the container, and that such guns beprovided with one or more air nozzles which are preferably arranged soas to envelop the material stream and to also flatten the materialstream in a plane at right angles to the line of movement of themachine. In the present instance, the gun i8 is indicated as having acentrally disposed nozzle 56, from which the paint is discharged, and ashaving laterally disposed air nozzles 51, from which air may bedischarged onto the front and rear surfaces of the paint stream so as toflatten the paint stream in the above mentioned transverse plane. Thepaint is delivered from the container ill to the gun l8 through the line58, the inlet whereof, of course, extends into the tank to a point belowthe level of the paint therein.

Depending upon the characteristics of the paint employed, and therequirements of the line to be painted, the gun structure may beadjusted to correspondingly vary the degree to which the material streamis atomized by the aforementioned air streams. In practice, it isusually found desirable to so adjust the gun that the air streams serveonly to flatten the material stream, and do not have any substantialatomizing eifect.

The gun I8 is also provided with a trigger 60 which, upon being drawnupwardly, serves to open the usual material and air valves positionedwithin the body of the gun. The trigger 60 is arranged for control fromthe handle 62 of the machine, by means of a Bowden wire or equivalentconnection 64, which leads to a trigger 66 carried by the handle 62.

The gun is is mounted for adjustment both vertically and horizontallyrelative to the machine upon the supporting rods 10 and T2, The rod H1is directly secured to the side wall of container H1, and is providedwith a bracket 14, which can be locked in any position of verticaladjustment on the rod 10. The bracket 14 also supports the rod 12, whichis slidable through the bracket 14 in such relation as to enable thetransverse spacing between the gun l8 and the container I0 to beincreased or decreased. The gun I8, in turn, is directly secured to therod 12.

As previously mentioned, the design of the spray gun I8 is preferablysuch that the material is discharged therefrom in the form of alaterally diverging fan-like stream. In order to clearly limit the widthof the line produced by this fan-like spray, a feature of the presentinvention resides in the provision of the arcuately formed paint shieldsand 82, which paint shields are carried at the forward ends of the armsand 88, respectively, which arms are independently and swingably mountedupon the supporting rod 88, which extends laterally outwardly from theside of the container I0. In order to increase and decrease thetransverse spacing between the shields 80 and 82, and so as to alsoadjust the lateral spacing between the shields and the container ID, therod 88 is provided with a plurality of spacing elements 90, the numberof which may be increased or decreased as desired, as will beappreciated. When the machine is in operation, the paint shields 80 and82 ride directly upon the surface being operated upon and the swingablemounting of the arms 84 and 86 enable these shields to independentlyfollow irregularities in the road surface, thus .providing for thepainting of exceedingly clearly and uniformly well defined paint lines.During inactive periods, it is preferred to elevate the shields 80 and82 out of engagement with the roadway and for this purpose, a handleoperated liftin element 92 is preferably secured to the side of thecontainer in such relation that upon lowering the handle, the cam part94 thereof engages and depresses the rear ends of the arms 84 and 86,and consequently elevating the paint shields.

As most clearly appears in Figure l, the paint shields 80 and 82 arearcuately formed in a plane generally parallel to the surface beingpainted, and are positioned with the concave surfaces thereof facingeach other. The lower surfaces of the shields are also arcuate, asviewed in Fig. 4, so that the front and rear end portions of each shieldare slightly elevated above the road surface. The maximum width of theline to be painted is, of course, governed by the maximum spacingbetween the shields, which maximum spacing occurs in the region of thereference characters a and b (Fig. 1).

In practice, in order to insure an entirely uniform width of the line,as determined by the spacing of the paint shields, it is preferred to soadjust the height of the gun that the fan-like spray engages the sidewalls of the shields, immediately adjacent the central areas a and bthereof (Fig. l) at a point slightly above the lower edges of the paintshields. Some paint thus collects upon the inner surfaces of the paintshields, particularly in the region of the areas a and b, and the thuscollected paint flows from the shield surfaces onto the road surface.Due to the arcuate form of the shields, all of the paint which collectson the shields forwardly and rearwardly of the areas a and b drips ontothe paint line at points spaced inwardly from the side edges thereof.The shields thus act to collect any paint which is not directlydischarged upon the road surface by the gun, and to thereafter disposesuch collected paint on the road surface, without, however, producing aragged edge on the paint line.

A further feature of the present construction resides in the provisionof the wind guard I00, which is adapted to be removably secured to themounting means for the paint shields in such relation as to enclose andshield the spray gun I8. With this arrangement, the paint machine may beutilized under windy conditions, without in any way interfering with theefficient operation thereof,

In the operation of the machine, it will be understood that thecontainer Ill may be filled to a relatively high level with the paint tobe sprayed, leaving a portion of the volume thereof available as an airstorage space. During the operation of the engine 12, the compressorserves to maintain the air pressure within the tank ID at a value fixedby the adjustment of the relief valve 55. In setting up the machine foroperation, it Will be'appreciated that the paint shields are laterallyadjusted so as to have a desired transverse spacing from themachine, asdetermined by the requirements of the-surface on which the line is to bepainted, and are spaced apart from each other in accordance with thedesired width of the line to be painted. A corresponding adjustment ismade of the spray gun.

After the above initial adjustments, the painting action may be startedsimply by releasing the trigger 66, which opens the material and airvalves associated with the gun, initiating the painting action. It willbe appreciated, of course, that the machine may be advanced relativelyrapidly or relatively slowly, depending upon whether it is desired toproduce a relatively thin or a relatively thick film of paint upon theroad surface. In operation, the positioning of the gun at one side ofthe vehicle enables the operator to keep the gun in full view at alltimes, thus rendering it considerably easier to follow guide lines, orthe like.

Although only a single specific embodiment of the invention has beendescribed in detail, it will be appreciated that various modificationsin the form, number, and arrangement of parts may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention,

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for painting or the like, the combination of a materialnozzle, means supporting said nozzle at a predetermined spaced relationto a surface upon which the material is to be deposited, and a pair ofmaterial guides positioned at respectively opposite sides of said nozzleand projecting nearly enough to said surface to enable said guides togovern the width of the area upon which said material is deposited, eachof said material guides being of arcuate form in a plane generallyparallel to the plane of said surface and having the concave surfacesthereof presented towards each other.

2. In a machine for depositing a line of material upon a surface, thecombination of a nozzle carried by said machine at a predeterminedelevation above said surface, and means comprising at least one materialguide carried by said machine and having a portion disposed at one sideof said nozzle and projecting nearly enough to the surface to enablesaid guide to govern the width of the line of material, said materialguide being of arcuate form in a plane generally parallel to the planeof the surface and having its concave side presented to said materialnozzle.

3. In a machine for depositing a line of material upon a, surface, thecombination of a, material nozzle carried by said machine inpredetermined spaced relation to the surface, a pair of material guidescarried by the machine and positioned at respectively opposite sides ofthe nozzle, said guides each having a portion disposed to project nearlyenough to the surface to enable said guides to govern the width of theline of ma terial, said portions being of concave form in a planegenerally parallel to the plane of the surface With the concave portionsthereof presented towards each other, and means associated with saidmaterial guides for holding them in elevated relation above the surface.

4. In a machine for depositing a line of material upon a surface, thecombination of a mate rial nozzle carried by said machine inpredetermined spaced relation to the surface, a pair of material guidescarried by the machine and posi- "'tioned at respectivelyoppositesides-of the nozzle, *said guides each "having "a portion disposed toproject nearly enough to the surface to enable -said guides to governthe width of the line of material, said portions beingof concave form ina plane generallyparallel to the plane of the surface with theconcaveportions-thereof presented "towards-each other, anda shield structure-re- -movably carried by said material guidesand extendin'gacross thespace therebetween so as to shield the stream of material dischargedfrom "the nozzle.

"5.-In -a machine for painting or the like, the combination of amaterial nozzle, means supporting said nozzle in operative relation to asurface upon which the material is to be deposited, a

formed toward the nozzle andover said area so that "material impingingthereon and draining therefrom is deposited on said area.

'6. In a machine for painting or the like, the combination of a materialnozzle, means supporting said-nozzle in operativerelation to a sur-'face upon which-thematerialis to be deposited, a material-shieldaitat-least one side of the'nozzle and-extending forwardly andrearwardly-from the path of the material, said shield having itsintermediate portion Qisposed in approximate registry'with thecorresponding side of the area which is to receive the material andhaving its forward and rearward'portions deformed toward the nozzle sothat material impinging thereon and draining therefrom is depositedon'said area.

7. 'In a machine 'for painting or the like, the combination of amaterial nozzle, means supporting saidnoz'zle inoperative relation toasurface upon which the material is to be deposited, a pair of materialshields positioned at respectively oppositesidesofthe nozzle and eachextending forwardly and rearwardly from the path of the material, eachsaid shield having partsthereof disposed in approximate registry with acorresponding side of the area which'is to receive the material andhaving other parts thereof deformed towards the nozzle and over saidareaso that material impinging thereon and draining therefrom isdeposited on said area.

RODOLPHE STAHL.

